During an oversight hearing of the Senate Commerce Committee last week, U.S. Sen. Tom Udall (D-NM) addressed Amtrak CEO and President Richard Anderson, demanding details on efforts to preserve and improve long-distance passenger rail.
Udall pressed the Amtrak official for blaming Congress and others over budgetary concerns while failing to engage its stakeholders. His criticism follows news that Amtrak is considering breaking up long-distance routes, though it backed down from doing so during Fiscal Year 2019 after a fight over the Southwest Chief rail line service.
“When Congress rejects Amtrak’s corridor plan, it appears that Amtrak will once again be left without a real vision for the National Network. That is deeply disappointing. Amtrak must develop a visionary and bold plan to preserve and improve long-distance rail for the American public,” Udall said.
James Souby, commissioner of the Southwest Chief & Front Range Passenger Rail Commission and president of the Colorado Rail Passenger Association, defended both the economic and social value of trains like the Southwest Chief to their community.
“The way Amtrak evaluates long-distance service… is purely based on metrics related to passenger trips [but] the greatest value of long-distance trains are the economic and social benefits they bring to the communities they serve… In the three states–Kansas, Colorado, and New Mexico–that the Southwest Chief runs through, the economic and social benefits total $180 million a year,” Souby said.